Albert Camus, an existentialist writer, believed that boredom or waiting, which is essentially the breakdown of routine or habit, caused people to think seriously about their identity, as Estragon and Vladimir do. The Main theme of this play is boredom, which Beckett induces within the audience by the mundane repetition of dialogue and actions. The Questions which Vladimir and Estragon ask, “Who is godot” probably resemble the question individuals ask in their lifetime and do not get an answer for e.g.: does god exist?
The German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger has clearly expressed that human beings can never hope to understand why they are here. The empty hats perhaps symbolize mans search for answers within the vacuum of a universe.
Jean Paul Sartre, the leading figure of French existentialism declared that human beings require a rational basis for their lives but are unable to achieve one, and thus human life is a futile passion. Estragon and Vladimir attempt to put order into their lives by waiting for a Godot who never arrives.
Beckett says that humans 'pass time' by habit or routine to cope with the existentialist dilemma of the dread or anxiety of their existence. Beckett believes that humans basically alleviate the pain of living or existence (which is at the crux of Existential philosophy) by habit. The idea of habit being essential for human existence substantiates Sartre's view that humans require a rational base for their lives. Beckett feels that habit protects us from whatever can neither be predicted nor controlled, as he wrote about the theme of habit in his published essay concerning Proust:
"Habit is a compromise effected between the individual and his environment, or between the individual and his own organic eccentricities, the guarantee of a dull inviolability, the lightening-conductor of his existence. Habit is the ballast that chains the dog to his vomit. Breathing is habit. Life is habit."
Estragon and Vladimir resemble the human condition as a period of waiting. Most of us spend our time looking for goals, exam or jobs, trying to go to a higher level.
The anti-climaxes within the play represent the disappointment of life's expectations. For example Pozzo and Lucky's first arrival is mistaken for the arrival of Godot. These points reinforce Kierkagaard's theory that all life will finish as it began in nothingness and reduce achievement to nothing. Beckett says that time is an illusion or cancer and the few leaves that have grown in the second act may symbolize hope. Beckett wrote in his Proust essay that time is the 'poisonous' condition we are born to, constantly changing us without our knowing, finally killing us without our assent. Beckett use ordinary images to depict mankind’s decay like Estragon’s nightmare during the day. The play consists of two acts, which represent two cycles of time or two mirrors reflecting endlessly. The boy comes with the same message; Godot never comes and tomorrow never ceases to arrive.
Now with the past barely recognizable and the future unknown, the present situation becomes important as Existentialist theories believe that time causes perceptional confusion e.g. Estragon asks, “What did we do yesterday”. They also vaguely remember the Bible, which is symbolic to the breakdown of the 20th century. Their uncertainty symbolizes the living in the 20th century e.g. Estragon say “You’re sure it was here?……You’re sure it was this evening”. Vladimir asks the boy “ you did see us didn’t you”; these lines bring out the uncertainty the have about their own senses, reality and existence. Here Godot could be God or a hero but he is most importantly a symbol of hope. Even through Lucky’s speech, Beckett tries to show the chaos, randomness and meaningless of the universe.
Heidgger theorized that humans are thrown in to the world and that suffering is part of the existence. Beckett tries to show a Laurel and Hardy kind of existence in the 2 characters. Beckett has tried to show a sense of balance with in the universe. Estragon is the man of the body and Vladimir the man of the mind. The last lines of the play show the contradiction between words and actions, well? Shall we go? Yes lets go. They do not move.
Beckett has tried to show a range of human emotions through Estragon and Vladimir. Pozzo’s arrival excites them and Estragon is ‘highly excited’ about an erection. Gogo and Didi are the 2 names they affectionately call each other. The two can be seen as either positive or negative. The pessimistic view is that they cannot escape waiting for Godot and the optimistic view is that they show a range of human emotions and the need to share experiences with the suffering of the finite experiences, governed by the past, acting in the present and uncertain in the future.
